India to be among top 10 markets: Audi

Announcing record production and earnings numbers for the last year, Audi group on Tuesday said it sold over 1.4 million automobile units in 2012 and its revenue surged to 48.8 billion euros despite the debt crisis and shrinking European market.

Besides surpassing the targets, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler told reporters that the company had added premium brand Ducati to its portfolio. "We intend to continue our growth in 2013, and with two new plants this year, we will create the right conditions to reinforce our claim to leadership over the long term," Stadler said.

The group reported operating profit of 5.4 billion euros for 2012, "the operating return on sales of 11% was above the strategic target of 8-10 %," said an Audi statement. It further added that the company shipped another 14.5 lakh automobile units globally, including 9,003 to India, representing 11.7% growth over the previous year.

Audi sales and marketing board member Luca de Meo hoped that India would be among the auto major's top 10 markets by the end of the decade. He described India, where the company's sales surged 63% last year, as one of the fastest and strategically important markets. "Over the last two years, we have tripled our annual sales volume in India." Commenting on the recent increase in import duties in the Budget, he said the company would like to operate in open markets, where policies are stable.

The company set new sales records in the US besides maintaining its lead in China's premium segment. "The Audi brand sold about 7.4 lakh cars in Europe last year, clocking 1.8% growth compared to 2011," said the statement. "The company's global strategy showed positive results as Audi achieved record unit sales in more than 50 markets last year."

Audi finance and organization board member Axel Strotbek said the company's high profitability reflects the success of growth strategy. "We already initiated the biggest investment programme in our history in 2011. We now plan total investment averaging more than 3.5 billion euros each year until 2015, in order to effectively pursue our growth path."

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